Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Michigan > Detroit
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-20-2007, 06:30 PM
 
999 posts, read 4,526,781 times
Reputation: 425

Advertisements

Most of East Dearborn was Italian and Polish. As far as Detroit itself, I think the East side had a bigger Italian flavor than the West side.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-20-2007, 06:38 PM
 
866 posts, read 4,256,496 times
Reputation: 285
Randazzo's Markets in Roseville(I believe?) and Westland still has the BEST prices on fresh fruit and veggies today. I love Randazzo's.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-21-2007, 01:11 PM
 
Location: Thumb of Michigan
4,494 posts, read 7,479,293 times
Reputation: 2541
There was an italian enclave in/around the Ford Rouge Complex in the early 1900's; which was around/between Fort St. and Oakwood Blvd. I believe it was called Oakwood Heights at one time. There are still a few remnants of "Little Italy" around there. The old bowling alley (Oakwood Blue Jackets) had a bocchi ball court behind it. (long gone..) There were a few italian restaurants around, but one remains from the 'golden age'. (Giovanni's)

My great grandmother settled in this area 'fresh' from Italy.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2007, 04:50 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,708 posts, read 79,764,742 times
Reputation: 39453
There is a history book called "Italians In Detroit" you can get it at the Detroit Store in the Guardian building or the Fisher Building. Barnes & Noble had it too. I have not read it yet, but obviously Italians were a significant influence in Detroit.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2007, 08:39 AM
 
Location: Thumb of Michigan
4,494 posts, read 7,479,293 times
Reputation: 2541
Some indirect history relating to Detroit and italian enclaves via Giovanni's site. The area, as i read the link, was called "Oakwood". I knew it was something to that effect.

http://www.giovannisristorante.com/history.php (broken link)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2007, 09:08 AM
 
Location: Thumb of Michigan
4,494 posts, read 7,479,293 times
Reputation: 2541
I found another 'indirect' link of history for Detroit regarding the many varied neighborhoods.....http://www.cityscapedetroit.org/Detr...borhoods.html#
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-26-2007, 09:38 AM
 
3 posts, read 24,403 times
Reputation: 19
From what I recall, the largest Detroit Italian community got its start around Eastern Market and like other ethnic communities, succeeding generations just moved further out from downtown in the same direction. Since Eastern Market is northeast of downtown, today you'll find lots of Italian restaurants, venues, names, etc. on the east side of Detroit and in the Macomb County suburbs. Roma Cafe in Eastern Market calls itself the oldest Italian restaurant in the area. By the looks, you'd believe it, but it's still pretty great.

Someone mentioned the Italian community around the Rouge Plant in SW Detroit and east Dearborn. Yup, it's still there. Dearborn was pretty heavily Italian for much of the 20th century, including Mayor Guido who served for 23 years until his death a year ago. The community survives through Giovanni's (as mentioned), Roman Village Restaurant near the plant and my favorites: the Fish Market and Alcamo's Italian Market on Schaefer south of Michigan Ave, behind City Hall. Those two places alone draw from the whole region.

I'd agree that the east side community was larger, but on the west side, it was more concentrated in Dearborn. East Dearborn has become associated more with the growing local Arab population of late, though. Hopefully the two communities are getting along well enought to stay put.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-17-2009, 08:37 PM
 
2 posts, read 12,673 times
Reputation: 14
the surnames of my high school class read like an Italian phone book: Henry Ford II in Sterling Heights. Macomb county has tons of Italians.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-18-2009, 12:31 PM
 
1 posts, read 8,341 times
Reputation: 11
My grand-parents moved to the Italian district in Detroit, which was around the Eastern Market. My grandmother told me that the Italians used to be pretty big until they all decided to move. Windsor has a prominent Italian district. She also has told me that there were a unbelieveable ammount of race issues between the Italians, Polish, Jewish and African Americans way back in the twenties and thirties. Almost everyone from the town in Italy (Valleluce) my grandparents are from came to Detroit at one point or another, but there is not nearly as many Italians in Michigan than other areas such as the "Tri-State Area" or California.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-19-2009, 03:58 PM
 
Location: Detroit, MI
84 posts, read 311,929 times
Reputation: 39
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
I have never heard much about Italians in Detroit and I am a history buff. Originally French and English. Later, lots of Polish and Slavic people, quite a few Scandanavians, lots of African Americans, more recently lots of Middle easterners and Hispanic's/Mexicans. Probably a lot of Canadians too.

No room left for Italians.

About 20 years ago there were a lot of ialians in the Fraser/Roseville area. I am not sure whether that is still true.
Apparently, there are a lot of Italians in Detroit. WITHIN CITY LIMITS.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Michigan > Detroit

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:58 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top